He Ping's answer caught Xue Ling by surprise.
However, it also made some sense.
"By the way," Fang Bie spoke up from the side, "regarding the reward for this mission, I request that this soft sword be given to Lin Xue for self-defense."
Fang Bie had mentioned this before at the Mountain God Temple, but Xue Ling hadn't paid much attention to it at the time. Furthermore, an exotic weapon like a soft sword was extremely difficult to master, which was why Xue Ling had ultimately taken it out and handed it to He Ping as proof of killing Ning Huaiyuan. She hadn't expected Fang Bie to bring it up again in front of He Ping, asking for the soft sword to be given to her for use.
He Ping nodded: "Very well."
Xue Ling was incredulous: "Is that really okay?"
This soft sword looked very valuable.
"We do not need to turn over the spoils from our assassin missions to the organization," He Ping said quietly. "After all, the stronger the enemy's strength and resources, the greater the difficulty of our assassination, so naturally, we should collect higher rewards."
Seeing Xue Ling's expression, He Ping continued calmly: "Of course, if there are some assets that are not suitable for our use, we can also offer them to the organization to obtain a certain amount of assassin points, or sell them on the black market to obtain some silver."
"By the way, how much silver did Ning Huaiyuan have on him?" He Ping asked.
"I did a rough count," Xue Ling said honestly. "The silver shards and copper coins add up to about five liang. There are silver notes of various denominations, totaling less than two hundred liang."
He Ping nodded. This amount of wealth was certainly not all of Ning Huaiyuan's assets, but even so, it was not a small sum.
Ordinary knights walking the Jianghu would be considered great heroes if they carried fifty or sixty liang of silver on them. Someone like Ning Huaiyuan must have had other sources of income; he could be considered a fat sheep.
"Do you have anything else to report?" He Ping asked.
Xue Ling thought for a moment, then shook her head: "No."
He Ping nodded: "Then you may go. I have some things to discuss with Fang Bie alone."
Xue Ling glanced at Fang Bie, nodded, and turned to walk out of the room, leaving the assassin master and disciple on the second floor.
Not until Xue Ling's footsteps could no longer be heard did He Ping look at Fang Bie: "How do you feel about Lin Xue's performance?"
Fang Bie nodded: "As a Bee Wing, both her psychological quality and performance are qualified."
"But?" He Ping asked.
"But I fear she is not a simple Bee Wing," Fang Bie smiled and said. "However, I don't care what she actually is."
"As long as she does not do anything to harm us, I will act as if nothing happened."
He Ping sighed: "This is not like you."
"That's true," Fang Bie nodded. "But if you save someone, you must save them to the end."
"If she wants to live, then there is a place for her to live in this world."
He Ping nodded, then looked at Fang Bie: "How was Ning Huaiyuan's kung fu?"
"His kung fu was quite good, barely having the strength of a third-rank master. He was enough to rank in the top twenty of the Mount Hua Sect," Fang Bie said. "However, what he learned was very messy, and many of his martial arts could not see the light of day. I suspect he had ties to the Western Regions Demonic Sect. I killed him, and I fear the Demonic Sect will come to investigate."
"Did you leave any traces behind?" He Ping asked with a frown.
"There shouldn't be any traces, but Ning Huaiyuan died in the territory of Luocheng, and that cannot be hidden," Fang Bie said. "However, we cannot fail this mission just because he is widely connected. In any case, I will do my best."
The two faced each other, silent for a moment.
He Ping then continued to ask: "How was Ning Huaiyuan's sword?"
"His sword technique was mediocre and no longer of much help to my sword, but I still took a few extra looks to make sure I didn't miss anything," Fang Bie said.
He Ping nodded: "How did it feel for your first mission?"
"Simpler than I imagined," Fang Bie said.
"You have always been too cautious," He Ping shook her head and said.
Fang Bie also shook his head: "One can never be too cautious. This is what you taught me, Sister Ping."
"Furthermore."
"I want to live."
"I don't want to die."
"Therefore, in order to live, I must be better prepared at any time and place to deal with every crisis."
He Ping looked at him: "In the end, there will be crises in this world that you cannot handle."
"Then I will just try to become stronger," Fang Bie smiled and said.
Outside the window, the drizzle fell, and dark clouds shrouded the bright moon.
..
..
Shaanxi, Mount Hua, the pines and cypresses are evergreen, and the mountain roads are rugged.
Yue Pingshan looked at the Mount Hua mountain road that was already in sight, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief in his chest.
Although he had not seen Ning Huaiyuan's corpse, everything that happened that night gave him reason to believe that Ning Huaiyuan was definitely dead.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to have survived.
However, he had already thought through how to explain things to his masters and fellow disciples on the way back. Now that Mount Hua was in sight, even though Yue Pingshan had deep experience walking the Jianghu, he felt like a wanderer returning home.
Just at this moment, a white horse galloped from ahead. Upon reaching Yue Pingshan, the rider pulled on the reins, leaped off the horse, and said: "Junior Brother Hou Yongyan greets Senior Brother Yue. Senior Brother has performed a great service by chasing down the traitor all this way, and I have come specifically to welcome Senior Brother's triumphant return."
Yue Pingshan smiled, reached out to ask Hou Yongyan for a water bag, drank most of it in one breath, and then put the bag down: "I have quite a story from this journey, but I will wait until I go up the mountain to report the details to Master. Please, Junior Brother, give me a ride."
That day, news spread from Mount Hua that the traitorous disciple Ning Huaiyuan had been killed in the Mountain God Temple in Luocheng by Yue Pingshan in cooperation with a hidden Beggar Hero. At the same time, the fact that Ning Huaiyuan possessed hidden weapons and internal energy cultivation methods from the Demonic Sect and had ulterior motives was made known to the world. For a time, every righteous sect felt insecure, fearing that such treacherous officials had also infiltrated their own sects.
Ten days later, the Beehive's Jianghu Ranking was updated. The Beggar Hero Gou Zazhong was ranked 74th on the Jianghu Ranking, with the note that he was a third-rank master.
..
..
In the distant Western Regions, news traveled much slower.
On the Gobi Desert swept by wind and sand, there was an oasis with lush water and grass. This was a branch hall of the Western Regions Demonic Sect.
Inside the branch hall, Old Man Bei Ku twisted the note in his hand into a line and shot it out with force, aiming directly at the opposite side. The note, made of mulberry paper, became as hard as steel after being infused with profound internal energy, and it was actually able to embed itself completely into the brass pillar.
"Trash!" "Audacious!" "Preposterous!"
Old Man Bei Ku, with his long, snow-white eyebrows, cursed repeatedly, his voice echoing in the branch hall.
At this moment, a delicate voice rang out softly: "Master, what news has made you so furious?"
"Could it be that my cheap Senior Brother has caused trouble in the Central Plains again?"
Old Man Bei Ku looked at the graceful woman in the shadows and sneered: "He can no longer cause trouble, because he is already dead."
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